I hate him, hate him, hate him
by HannaDoo
Summary: Moze and Loomer are prepairing together a project for their carpentry class in highschool. Sparks between them begin to fly.
1. Chapter 1

**I don't own Moze, Loomer or NDSSG, blah, blah, blah. In this story the kids are in high school, aged 16. Loomer and Moze can't avoid pestering each other. Oh, teenage love, so many memories...**

**Words between "" represent**** dialogue parts.**

**Words between ( ) represent**** thoughts.**

Moze was staring at her image in the mirror, trying to assess the situacion. 'Don't focus on hiding the things you don't like, but on highlighting your best features', the magazine said.

_(Ok, let's go. Smooth__, real long hair. Good feature there, we can do something with that one. Then: eyes, nose and lips. Not ugly, but not stunningly pretty at all. Ermm... cleavage; we are good in that department. Yeah, Moze, that's exactly what you're going to tell him: Hey, Billy!! If you look me up here, you'll see my face is just average, but take a peek at my boobs. Impresive, huh?)_

She rolled her eyes in desperation and lied down in her bed, covering her face with that magazine for teenagers. She considered for a moment it might be a good idea to ask Suzie for advice. Yeah, she was great with guys, they all liked her. But then again, she did it effortlessly, almost unconsciously. And what was she going to tell her?_ 'Errmm, Suzie, remember Loomer used to have a crush on me in middle school and I used to ignore him completely? Well, now I've decided I absolutely wanna date him, but he doesn't even look at me anymore.' _

(_Ok. No Suzie, just stupid magazine and me.)_ She got up and looked at the reflection in the mirror again _(nice legs, maybe a bit too muscular for most girly girls, but still beautiful. Note to myself: might even consider buying a skirt. Note to myself #2: ewww!!!)_

**

* * *

**

So there she was, walking nervously towards Michael's house. They had agreed to finish their group project for carpentry in his garage that weekend. She checked her aspect in a shop window for one last time before entering the house. It had taken her a long time to get the knack of how to use her mother's hair straightener, but it had been worth it. Her hair looked glossy and perfect, just like models' locks usually did in shampoo ads. She smiled to herself. A tight black shirt, her brand new boots and her favourite pair of jeans completed her atire. She took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

She heard Michael's voice from the inside, telling her it was opened, and she could come in. Moze entered the hall and saw... well, she didn't see anyone, or anything at first sight. She frowned.

"_Hey guys! You playing hide-and-seek or what?"_

"_Nay, Moze, we were just on a trip to the kitchen to bring downstairs some..."_ Michael was saying when he turned and saw her. In fact, he just seemed to stare open-mouthed at her. _"Some... erm, you know, huh, some..." _he laughed nervously.

"_SNACKS, BUB!!!"_ Loomer snapped the back of Michael's neck.

Michael seemed not to notice it.

"_You're looking really pretty today, Moze"_ Michael said, blushing slightly "_Not that you normally don't, of course, I mean... you ARE pretty, so you look ok everyday. Erm... not just ok. Great. You look great everyday. It's just that today you look... erm... extra great!"_ he managed to finish, looking more and more flushed by the moment.

"_Oh, thank you for... everything you've said, I guess. I wasn't sure about this shirt when I bought it, so it's good to know you've got a good opinion on that. What do you think, Billy?",_ Moze asked with her most confident voice, although she was nervous on the inside. _(Oh, c'mon, Billy, just take a look, big guy!!)_

"_I think that's the weirdest thing I've seen anyone wearing to work with wood in a garage," _he shot.

Ok, enough was enough. That made her lose it. Moze straightened her back as much as she could and tried her best to look down on him and put her most indiferent tone of voice.

"_Well, I happen to have plans for tonight. Some of us here have a social life. Though I don't expect you to understand that, Billy Loomer."_

"_Do whatever you wanna do!!! Just be careful you don't break a nail. I don't wanna spend the evening listening to you crying over it!,"_ he said so cuttingly Jennifer thought she was gonna explode.

"_Can't believe you're such a moron. You know I'm the best there is at carpentry in our class."_ He had that sarcastic smile and she couldn't help but add _"YOU, just be careful I don't accidentally hammer some of your bodyparts."_

Before Loomer had time to answer, Michael considered it was the moment to intervene.

"_Maybe we could start with the project. The earlier we start, the sooner..."_

"_The sooner Moze will go see that new little boyfriend of hers,"_ he said trying to annoy her.

"_Yeah, and the sooner Loomer will be able to go back to his sofa to spend a long, pleasant Saturday night with himself and his TV,"_ she gave him a malicious look.

_(Yeah, you didn't fancy him when he was nice to you, but you do now he's as much of an ass to you as he's to everyone else.)_ she closed her eyes tight for a moment in a gesture of desperation _(Great, Moze. You have a problem up there and it's called masochism. Awwwwwwww!!! I hate him, hate him, hate him, hate him.) _

In the middle of those thoughts, Moze tripped on a step and was just about to fall off the stairs.

_(Maybe he was a little bit right about the not-so-appropriate look to work in a garage. But he's still an ass. He's an ass. He's an ass. He's an ass. He's got a nice ass, actually.)_ She rolled her eyes. Masochism was back. Oh, yeah.


	2. Chapter 2

**Too short, I know!!! But I wanted you to be able to read some progress in the story, so there it goes. I'll try my best to update soon, ok??**

* * *

Once they started working, things went smoothly. They actually made a good team and, truth to be told, each of them enjoyed a lot their project. They were about to hammer the last tacks when both Moze and Loomer stretched out their arms to get one of them. Their arms touched each other and they remained motionless. Moze, biting her lower lip in expectation, slowly turned her gaze towards his eyes.

"_You're not planning on hammering them yourself, are you?"_ he shot.

(_That's my Billy, rivaling in charm with all the gentlemen in the court,)_ she thought, raising an eyebrow.

"_What if I were?" _

"_Well, maybe you should ASK, or something. Maybe Michael or myself would want to give the final touch"._

"_I don't really mind who..."_ Michael said timidly.

Loomer didn't even look at him.

"_Shut up!"_

"_Look! Mr. Democracy-in-Projects telling his colleague to stop talking because he doesn't like the answer...",_ she was starting to wave her hands around, still holding the hammer in one of them.

"_What about throwing a coin in the air and..."_ Michael tried again to soothe things.

"_Michael!"_ Moze directer an accusing gaze to him_, "just shut up!"_

Michael raised his hands in defeat while Loomer went on with the argument.

"_Oh... you're such a lady...,"_ he narrowed his eyes.

"_As if you knew a lot about ladies... Not exactly the word one would use to describe the kind of girls you go out with...,"_ Moze knew she was reaching a level of bitchiness she had never imagined before, but she just didn't seem able to stop herself.

Loomer's loud laugh angered her even more.

"_So that's it, sweetie? Are you jelous? 'Cos you could always cancel that boring date ur havin tonight and join me. We could watch __some TV and solve that bad temper problem of yours in my sofa..."_

He winked at her. He dared not only saying that with a big sardonic smile on his face, no. On top of that, he had actually had the nerve to wink at her. She was already opening her mouth to let out the worst answer she could find when Loomer reached for the hammer in her hand. She tried to keep it just because she felt like being stubborn. He tried again and...

"_FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!"_ Loomer howled.

Moze was petrified. She didn't really know what had exactly happened, but the hammer had somehow fallen from her hand and landed on Loomer's arm, causing him to scream in pain.

**

* * *

**

"_Oh God, oh God, oh God,"_ said a sobbing Moze_. "I'm so sorry. I never, I," _she let out a deep sigh, _"I didn't mean it when I said, I...,"_ the tears were forming a knot in her throat and she couldn't go on.

"_Ok, if you keep crying while you drive you're going to get us both killed and screw my car, understand?",_ Loomer replied, trying to stop her nervous breakdown.

That very moment, Moze really started crying her eyes out. The highway was blurred and she began to panic about the possibility of getting involved in an accident. Loomer understood that wasn't the best posible strategy to approach her. He extended his left hand and started to caress her hair and neck. His voice was lower than usual, barely a whisper.

"_C'mon, Moze, I need you now, ok? You're not going to crash the car, you're gonna bring me to St. Mary's Hospital, we'll make use of my mum's contacts,"_ she let out a smile then, and he winked at her, _"we'll solve this soon and then you'll go to that date of yours."_

Moze just nodded, remembering the lie she had told him in the middle of the argument. The stupid argument that was ending with a visit to the hospital, she recalled, and tears of guilt appeared in her eyes again.

"_I'm so sorry, I should've... I dunno, just, oh my God, your right arm is broken and it's all my fault..."_

Loomer took a deep breath. Pain was starting to become much more intense then.

"_Shhh... it's not your fault, I was being an ass, we were both nervous and it was an accident. And you wouldn't believe how many times I've had to wear a plaster in my life. I was always climbing and falling from places when I was a child. Plus, they are cool! You can always write the answers for exams there and no teacher suspects..."_

Moze couldn't stop a big smile and stepped on the gas.

* * *

They had been in the waiting room for some minutes. Moze was so nervous she couldn't sit down. She wandered around the room till she found some posters about a health campaign and started reading them just to make time pass by quicker. Suddenly, she realised there was a mirror she could see from the corner of her eye. And then, she saw his reflection there. He was staring at her. Moze could see how his eyes followed a path from the top of her head to her boots and back again to the starting place. They stopped for a moment in the curve between her hip and her waist and she felt the blush in her face and butterflies in her stomach. Then, his eyes met hers in the mirror and each of them looked inmediately in the other direction, pretending nothing had happened. None of them said a thing. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Basically Moze's thoughts while Loomer is receiving medical attention. A little (little) bit of angst, but not that bad. Still probably too short, but when I read the last paragraph, I felt that was the right place to cut the story till next chapter. It made more sense. So that's it. Hope ur not disappointed!!**

It was weird. It really was. She had known Loomer for years and, yeah, he might have told her his mom worked at a hospital. But, honestly, she had always believed she was a nurse. Maybe a doctor. But definitely not the general manager of Saint Mary's hospital. That made her think. It was the kind of thing every other kid would have been showing off about. He might act all cocky sometimes, but he'd never, never ever, boast about the things he had. Loomer was not much of a talker. There were many things she didn't know about him yet. And she liked that.

They were looking after his arm. She could see him from the waiting room. He was tense, she could tell, probably because of the pain. But his features were still beautiful to her. She didn't have the opportunity to stare at him thoroughly very often, so she took it. He was tall and strong. With her eyes locked to his broad shoulders, she couldn't help imagining how it would feel to have her face buried in his chest. His arms hugging her in an embrace. His hands, one tangled in her hair, and the other caressing the small of her back. His mouth desperately looking for hers, and, every now and then, whispering in her ear how long he had waited for that to happen.

Moze shook her head. That was so not going to happen. She searched her reflection in the mirror again. She was simply not his type.

_("Honestly")_ Moze thought _("the girls Loomer usually dates are sluts. No offence intended! Just trying to describe them, not meaning to insult at all. So, objective description: Sluts. Whores. That kind of schoolmates whose aptitude tests should say they could have a successful career on the lap dance business. And you know what's seriously wrong with those girls? They can't keep their mouths shut. They just talk, and talk, and share all the juicy details with the girls who are just trying to change clothes in the changing room after the PE class. Changing. 'Cos, you know? That's what the changing room is for. Not for learning how big is Billy's, erm, "little friend", which, apparently, is not that little. Not for showing their lovebites and, definitely, not for stating how they cannot wait to fuck him again.")_

Tears were pushing to appear in her eyes, but she wouldn't let them. She wished she could go back. To the part when she was sweet to her, just to her. When she was the only one he would talk to with a shy smile on his lips. When his beautiful blue eyes softened every single time they met hers. She had never appreciated that until she lost it. She clenched her fists at that thought. If only he had turned those attentions to any other girl, it wouldn't feel that bad. She would've deserved it. She had been stupid. But he didn't. After he got sick of waiting for Moze to see he could be good to her and not receiving a single opportunity, he built a shell and got inside. That was when he started going out with that kind of girls. He avoided falling in love and that was why he looked for partners who were searching the same. Because Billy Loomer could be a manwhore, but he was an honest guy. That moment, it came to her. Maybe he was having fun. Scratch that. He was obviously having fun. But, did all of that make him happy? Then, while he was almost done and talking to his doctor, she took a decision: she was going to tell him that night.


	4. Chapter 4

The way back to Loomer's house was being quiet. Moze could feel the tension in her stomach. She could see he was stealing glances at her every now and then, when he thought she was not watching. Truth was she was doing exactly the same. She did her best to keep her attention on the road in front of her, but she was feeling more nervous than anytime she could recall. After the whole hammer incident and ER thing was finished, Moze had been able to switch the panic mode off. And then, that very moment, she became very aware that they were alone. The two of them. In quite a small place.

She stopped the car in front of his house. There was an awkward silence till he decided to speak.

"_You wanna grab a drink or something to eat?"_

"_Some water would be fine, thank you",_ she looked somewhere else. In case she had looked him in the eye, she was sure she would've forgotten her own name.

He shifted awkwardly.

"_I guess we should enter the house or somet__hing if we wanna do that,"_ Loomer said, although none of them moved from their positions in the car, _"and... maybe..." _he took a breath and looked away from her.

"_Yeah?",_ Moze turned her gaze to him, full of expectation.

Loomer recovered his voice.

"_Maybe it would be useful to get out of the car before we get in the house."_

"_Sure",_ she blushed and basically jumped out of the car.

* * *

Her legs were hanging from one of the very high stools in his kitchen. They slowly ate the sandwiches Moze had helped him prepare and drank their bottles of water. Loomer was no longer stealing hidden glances at her. He was looking, directly, unashamedly, like daring her to say something. When Moze drank the last gulp of water, she got up, trying to summon up all her courage.

"_Ermm, Billy, there is this thing I'd like to talk to you about, you know?"_

"_I'm listening."_ He shot, with a hard look in his eyes she found imposible to decypher.

"_Just promise me if you don't... agree... we'll never talk about this again. Ever. Not among us, not with other people. Please?,"_ she almost begged.

Loomer avoided her pleading eyes, but nodded in agreement. Moze took a deep breath before she started speaking again.

"_I know I'm probably, like almost certainly, too late for this, but anyway. Thing is you... me... I mean, lately... Not that it had never occured to me before, but then it was like... no. I mean, not that I think situation is any better now, you know, but I just... You know?" _Moze rambled, having one of the worst times in her life.

Loomer rolled his eyes in desperation.

"_Could.You.Speaking.Freakin.English???"_

"_Mmm... I should've rehearsed at home or something", _Moze thought, and blushed when she realised by the weird look in Loomer's eyes that she'd said that aloud. She closed her eyes for a moment and tried to go on. At least, there was no way anything could go worse. She had nothing to lose. _"So, back to my point, thing is I kinda like you,"_ Moze shot back.

She had no time at all to see the look in his face inmediately after her confession because he jumped off the chair and faced away from her before she had even time to blink. Everything she could see was the tension in his shoulders, which she was not 100 sure was good or bad. Then, still not facing her, he spoke.

"_I can't believe you're doing this,"_ he sounded way more hurt than angry, _"I mean, of course they're your friends, but I never expected this from you. Never thought you, of all people, would do this kind of thing."_

Moze raised a questioning eyebrow, but he continued before she had time to answer.

"_Truth to be told, maybe I expected a dirty trick from Ned and Cookie. __I probably deserved it. My practical joke last month was not funniest thing for them and, yeah, they'd promised I'd never forget their revenge. And, yeah, you'd been weird to me lately, but I didn't want to think... I mean, it's YOU! You know how I feel... I've always felt about you." _

Loomer looked her in the eye for the fraction of a second and Moze's heart almost froze when she saw the tears threatening to fall from his eyes. He sat back in his stool, again facing away from her, and added.

"_You can now go tell them you tricked me into believing it. I don't mind. Hope you three have a good laugh at my expense. Just close the door before you leave." _

He sounded cold, but Moze knew what she'd seen in his eyes the moment before, and it was far from that. Best thing she could think of consisted on walking towards Loomer and hugging him from behind.

"_Billy..."_

"_It's Loomer,"_ he barked.

"_Are you usually that much of an ass to girls?",_ she exclaimed desperately.

"_Just to the ones who throw hammers to my arms."_

"_That's so elegant on your part..."_ she narrowed her eyes.

"_So was your close-to-death -experience drive to the hospital. Real kind from you, I'd always wanted to practice some adventure sports."_

"_I was trying to do my best. Maybe I would've done better if I hadn't had someone stealing strange glances at me during the whole journey."_

"_Maybe I was making sure you didn't confuse the brakes for the gas pedal in the middle of your tears."_

"_I was being empathic to your pain. Can.You.Understand.That? Of course not, you big... bully!!"_

"_Empathic? You almost got me killed twice in the same afternoon, then tried to trick me into your friends' cruel joke, and it's all my fault. We crown you Jennifer Moseley, queen of Empathicland."_

"_Oh, shit... You're stubborn, aren't you? Just to make it clear: I know nothing 'bout that revenge of Cookie and Ned 'cos, believe it or not, I'm over all that childish stuff you guys never seem to stop. I WAS JUST TRYING TO TELL YOU THAT, GOD KNOWS WHY, I LIKE YOU. A LOT."_

"_If you like me and I like you. WHY THE FUCK ARE WE SHOUTING AT EACH OTHER?"_ Loomer let out.

"_Erm... that's a good question." _Moze answered in a whisper, still flushed after their argument.

Loomer lowered his forehead to hers and pulled a lock behind one of her ears. She had imagined her first kiss with Billy Loomer about three hundred times in the last weeks. And never, not a single time, she had imagined it as sweet as it actually was. His lips seemed to aproach hers in slow motion. When they touched, instead of a hungry and wet kiss, as she had imagined, it was barely a brush. But she could feel so much emotion in that very short time, in the way his arms felt around her, and the look in his eyes when their lips parted. They remained silent for a while, just staring into each other's eyes, trying to assimilate everything that had happened, until Loomer's left hand traveled to the back of her neck and brought her closer to him to kiss her again. Suddenly, he draw his head back, looking quite puzzled.

"_What about your date,?",_ he inquired.

"_My... my what?",_ Moze babbled, startled, till she could make out what he was talking about_. "Oh... THAT!!,"_ her gaze flew to the floor, trying to pretend she was not blushing. _"There was, erm... no date at all."_

Loomer was confused.

"_But you dressed nicely, and you did something to your hair, why would you...?"_ He realised what everything had been about the moment he lifted her chin and saw the mortified look in her eyes. Loomer bit his lower lip and smiled, _"you did that for me?"._ Moze nodded, burying her face in his chest. He took a step back and lowered his lips to her ear, whispering softly_, "just for me, baby?",_ she nodded again.

Moze felt goosebumps all over her skin and butterflies in her stomach for the way his lips brushed against her ear and the sensual tone in his voice. Suddenly, he was doing something with his lips and his tongue in the base of her neck. She could probably manage to describe it in case her brain was working at any level. And that was not really happening. Nope. Nobody up there. She could hear herself sorta mumbling something she could not really understand.

_("So that's what they all talked about. Well, part of. __Feelin' nice. Feelin warm, inside and outside, and like everywhere. Moze melting. Literaly,) _she thought_, (Moze's gonna end up becoming a teenage-hormone puddle in the kitchen floor. No outside help needed, please!!")._

His lips were moving upwards and then he bit that sensitive spot in her neck. Moze's knees buckled and Loomer was so focused on kissing her, he didn't actually notice it till they've already hit the floor.

"_Ouch!!!"_ Moze groaned, rubbing her sore back.

Loomer looked at her and they began to laugh non-stop. It took him a couple of minutes to be able to talk.

"_Well, Jennifer, you know what they say..."_

"_What?"_ Moze asked with a questioning look.

"_Love hurts!!!"_, he let out a big laugh.

"_Ha.Ha. You're soooo much fun!"_ she narrowed her eyes and stuck her tongue out.

"_I know, that's what you like 'bout me."_ He said, hugging her tightly towards him, both of them still half-laughing at the previous incident.

That moment, Moze's phone rang. It was Michael.

"_Hello? Yeah, he's ok."_

_"[..."_

"_Of course we've behaved!"_

_"[..._

"_What do you mean we're always fighting? Not always. And about accidents caused by it... Well, it's happened ONCE!" _

Billy whispered in her ear: _"Maybe twice...",_ making it difficult for her to have a coherent conversation with Michael.

Loomer took the phone from her hands.

"_Hey, Mickey! Wassup? I'm good, plaster and all, will be fine soon according to doctors. She managed to behave, dunno how."_

_"[..."_

"_Of course I behaved too. So, thing is: I'm good. Stop. Thanks for worrying. Stop. Gotta leave you 'cos Jennifer's date is waiting for her and he looks the impatient type. Stop. See you on Monday. Bye."_

**

* * *

**

"_So I was right,"_ Loomer grinned, looking at her.

"_Right about what?"_ Moze raised an eyebrow.

"_As I had predicted",_ he stretched his arms, _"you are here, in my sofa, watching TV and not grumpy anymore", _he teased her deliberately.

Moze threw a handful of popcorn at him, doing her best to look offended.

"_LOOMER!!!"_

"_It's Billy,"_ he said, looking at the screen in front of them. Then, his gaze went back to her eyes_, "you know, for you",_ he whispered, _"it's Billy."_


End file.
